Broken Down Rain
by Heart-Of-Memories
Summary: A death in the family is never easy to take. Roxas just wishes he could understand this broken man before him.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: KH and all it's characters are the legaly owned property of Square-Enix/Disney. I own nothing but this story.

* * *

It's the third funeral in twice as many months, and Roxas has had _enough_. Axel went down screaming, Leon went out with a bang and Sora...oh, gods..Sora. His twin brother -_older by two minutes so hah!-_ is gone. He couldn't even think when Namine came running into his quarters, the phone nearly falling from her hand as Kairi screamed and cried on the other end, all he could make out being "Sora's gone!" Riku's stale, choked explanation half an a hour later doesn't give him much in the way of comfort, but it does answer things Kairi didn't know.

Sora, his loveable, goofy, goody-two shoes brother, had stormed the enemy stronghold with nothing but his Keyblade and a handful of Potions, made it all the way to the top...and had blown himself up, taking Xemnas with him.

No note, no letters, no voicemail, no calls, no video left behind, no nothing. Not even a body to bury. And since he'd taken out the castle with him and Xemnas, there's no way they'll find enough for a funeral pyre. So here they stand, all of Sora's friends and allies, as a pretty young woman does what she calls a sending. It's some complicated dance held as close as they can safely get to the Nobody stronghold, and Kairi is the first to go down sobbing. Namine is at her side in less then an instant, and Cloud not long after. Roxas watches as he holds his little sisters close, tears in his own eyes. Everyone else holds strong, but Riku, standing next to Roxas, is shaking.

The second the sending is over, he bolts into the city. Kairi tries to give chase, but Roxas is faster-_he's not the one in a skirt-_and he catches up with Riku at the Skyscraper. The older boy is on his knees just in front of the building, bowed as if in prayer. But his shoulders are shaking so hard that Roxas wonders how long he's held this in, and the sobs coming from him are raw and heart-wrenching.

Roxas keeps his distance, his own tears much quieter. He thinks of what Sora would do, and he walks to the other man. Riku _has_ to know he's there, but he doesn't look up. Roxas crouches next to his _dead_ brother's best friend, puts his arm around his thin, shaking shoulders, and pulls him into a hug. Riku doesn't stiffen or tense, like every other time Roxas ever touched him, and instead goes boneless. His head falls to Roxas' shoulder as he cries, and all Roxas can do is hold him. All he can do is hold this broken down man as he looks up at the stars and wonder how things ever got this bad.

* * *

Random, I know. But with a 20 gigabyte file downloading, I've got nothing else to do but brush up on my writing. So, random ideas and rewrites of older stories, here we are. All I can say is thank anything out there for download resuming.


	2. Author's Note: June 2012

People may have noticed by now that things have changed around here. Between "Critics United" and "Literate Union", the climate around FFN has taken a drastic turn for the unfriendly. Accounts have been banned, stories deleted, and people have been driven to tears over what was supposed to be a fun hobby, all because of a bunch of bullies. The issues I have with this are long and lengthy, but I won't take up your time with the details. This is just a statement of fact: I'm leaving FFN behind me. This notice will go up on all my stories, and though they will remain up for as long as possible, any incomplete works will not be updated from this point on.

_However_. This does not mean that they will not have updates at all. I'm leaving FFN behind, not stopping writing. This site has taken a turn for the worst but I will still write, however slowly. Writing my first story is what brought my sister and I together. Writing is what gave me my self-confidence back when I thought I'd lost it all. Writing is, to many people, an escape. A method of coping. I will not let mine be taken from me. On that note, I will not be stopped from writing. No bully is going to take away something that I consider important, and none of you should let that happen, either. Their reasoning, removing stories that break site rules, can be respected up to a point. Their methods cannot. Bullying is never the answer. We are all writers, to some degree, and we are all humans. That demands some modicum of respect, and this is not that. This is bullying, and the only method I know to work with bullies is to turn and walk away until the time comes to fight back. Do not let them take your dreams.

For those who want to keep updated more frequently, all updates to any of my stories will be posted on my tumblr, which can be found at **heart-of-memories(dot)tumblr(dot)com**. They will likely be linked to from a different site with Tumblr just serving as the grounds for which to launch, but it's simpler to keep it that way. Also, older fic may be posted on Tumblr at one point or another. Life needs to settle a little more first.

As you've surely seen, this is a work that's noted as "complete" according to FFN standards. As such, it will remain here until it gets deleted for whatever reason. At that time, it will be moved to either the aforementioned Tumblr, or to my new writing "home", **endlessink(dot)dreamwidth(dot)org. **All new fics and any kind of update to the verse this story belongs too will be found there as well, so please follow at your leisure. Hopefully I've made it easy enough for you all to continue doing so, because I cherish each and every one of you. Yes, even the flamers. :3

In closing, I suggest everyone who reads this and has an account here find a new place to host their works. There's no telling when things will get worse.

~Heart


End file.
